Last issue left off with our heroes facing a gun-toting Batman that had been spreading his own brand of fear in Gotham City. Nightwing and Damian confront this cowl-claimant, and Nightwing reveals who is behind the mask. Meanwhile, Tim Drake in a different Batman costume does things his own way, and comes across an old ally. Two-Face and Penguin are manipulated, and Tim finds what he is seeking, and enters his own battle for the cowl, as the gun-toter firmly acknowledges an agenda.

For me, the best part of this issue is definitely the art. It’s not perfect, and seems less-detailed in places…but overall is some of the better art I can think of when it comes to Batman-related stuff. Whatever depth the story itself has, the art fits the story, and gets across what’s going on–I don’t really ask much more than that of art in a comic.

The story is a bit rougher. On the one hand I really want to like this, as it’s supposed to be this major story in the Bat-verse and all that. But at this point, I’ve already decided who I want to see “win” by story’s end, and am not as interested as I’d thought in how we get to that status quo. Daniel definitely has a good handle on the art–and though his story isn’t all that deep, it is understandable and fairly straight-forward.

Overall, this is feeling almost like it’s just a transition-story…it offers some quick explanation of how the status-quo-to-come will be what it is, but doesn’t actually feel like it’s all that organic in development. (Perhaps I’ve gotten too used to the six-issue-arc model of many comics these days).

Recommended if you’ve already been following the story…nothing in this screams “check me out!” in and of itself, though.